Parent U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,044 describes a toaster which contains heating elements optimally designed and positioned for toasting and provides the means to preheat the toasting elements to optimal thermal conditions for toasting before introducing the bread or other material to be toasted into the toasting environment. The novel toaster design disclosed in that patent includes also added means to create the optimal conditions for baking, warming, defrosting or a combination thereof. The design geometry, size and thermal environment of the relatively ubiquitous conventional toasters have not proven satisfactory for quality baking, defrosting or warming. By contrast this toaster will perform these functions faster and better than conventional baking ovens common to virtually all kitchens.
Conventional baking ovens that have been used for centuries are designed with horizontal shelves to cook food in horizontal containers that are slowly raised to elevated temperatures by heated air. Food in those containers is heated primarily by contact with the hot horizontal container or by contact with adjacent food in turn heated by contact with the container.
In more recent times motor driven fans have been introduced in ovens to circulate the air around the containers and over the top of foods in horizontal containers or horizontal shelves. Large electrical heaters have been added on the ceiling, floors and side walls of ovens to heat the air more rapidly. Horizontal shelves are provided universally as the means to hold food containers and in some cases to position bread or other foods horizontally in close proximity to a horizontal mounted heater that will toast or broil one side at a time. The efficiency of the toasting operations is very poor taking many minutes to toast—leaving a dry relatively unappetizing product. Large ovens of that sort take 10 or more minutes just to reach baking temperatures and substantial time to complete the baking because of inefficient heat transfer to the food. No provision is made in such ovens to insure intimate and direct contact with all surfaces of the food when that food is particulate or simultaneously with both sides of the food if the food is planer such as steaks, patties, and waffles. An exception to that is the rotisserie that secures larger foods on skewers and rotates them before the heated air, flames, or heated elements.